Nawaz Sharif would return to Pakistan next month from London: PML-N leader

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would return to the country next month from London where he has been living since last three years, a senior party leader has said.

The 72-year-old former three-time premier had left for London in November 2019 after the Lahore High Court granted him four-week permission allowing him to go abroad for his treatment. But he never came back to Pakistan where he was convicted for corruption and jailed.

His party is under pressure without him and PML-N leaders are frequently asked about the return of their leader.

Minister for Economic Affairs Ayaz Sadiq was asked during the Geo TV talk show on Tuesday (6) night when Sharif would come back and he said the party was looking forward to his homecoming.

"He (Sharif) is expected to come back in January (2023)," Sadiq said, adding that he would also allocate tickets to the candidates for the next general elections.

The minister also said that the next polls would be held in the country after August 2023 as he rejected a demand by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders to hold general elections by March next year.

Sharif was convicted by an accountability court in 2018 which sentenced him seven years in prison in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case, while he was sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison and slapped an £8 million fine in the Avenfield properties case.

Subsequently, in 2019, the Lahore High Court (LHC) after suspending his sentence, allowed him to go abroad for medical treatment.

Known as the 'Lion of Punjab', Sharif became the prime minister in the politically unstable Pakistan for a record three times. He led the country's most powerful political family and the ruling PML-N party for more than three decades.

(PTI)